Praise You in this Storm
I am awake because of the brokenness of this world. How about you? It is 1:37 am as I write this on a Friday morning. There is so much brokenness hurt, pain, suffering. Each person I know who is going through his or her own personal hell is weighing on my heart. One has a deep love for God yet is going through anguish that seems so unfair. Another is denying God’s existence and blaming himself for the sins of his past. Another blames God for his suffering. And another simply has given up. There are others and each of them has a story of heartache, suffering and anguish that I would not wish on anyone. I will not go into details, in case you figure out who they are. But as I sit here, I marvel in awe of God’s grace in Jesus Christ. For I am no better than any of these people and my life has come full circle from my suffering. I am no more worthy than any of these people, but I count my blessings, because I know that God gives and God takes away. And even when he takes away we can still have contentment and joy and peace. God is stronger than all of us, all of our weakness, and in him we can find peace in the midst of suffering. After my devotions this evening I listened to “Praise You in This Storm.”
But as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away
I have seen my share of darkness, I have had times when Psalm 88 was so real to me. When I believed that darkness was my only friend. But in that darkness shined a light. Jesus Christ, the light of the world. I pray for my friends who are suffering. I raise my hands and praise the God who gives and takes away.
Amen. If Job can rejoice considering his circumstances because of his faith (given by God’s grace), then we should too. I really appreciate this post, I love your care and compassion for your friends, and your prayerfulness and I just want to encourage you to keep this blog going – its great! P.S. – this song is the best, its been one of my favorites for a long time now.
I appreciate that Shawn. It was nice to finally meet you. Too bad the conference was not longer so we could actually talk a little bit…The last workshop touched on what I have been feeling lately – burnout. Hence the reason why this month has my fewest posts to date…but I will continue.
I often think this too….its so easy to praise God when everything goes well in life. Once a trial comes our view tends to change so quickly.
Very true Rachel, but in those times we need to rely on him for our comfort and strength even in dark times.
Rachel, if our relationship with the Lord is deep, I’m not sure if our view on praising God changes….we just praise Him through our tears, knowing that He is the eternal God and this life is just a passing through to one of eternal joy. Even ‘our praising Him’ is a gift from God.